Tuesday 6 September 2011 18.59 EDT
First published on Tuesday 6 September 2011 18.59 EDT

Police have launched a murder investigation after a Wales supporter aged 44 died when trouble flared before the Euro 2012 qualifier with England at Wembley.

The man was taken to hospital with serious head injuries, after having suffered a heart attack [see footnote]. Emergency services were called to the concourse outside the stadium at about 7.20pm on Tuesday night. The man was pronounced dead at 8.50pm.

Six people have been arrested in connection with the incident. A Metropolitan police spokesman said the victim and the suspects were Wales fans.

A London ambulance service spokesman said: "I can confirm that LAS got a call at 7.20pm to reports of an assault outside Wembley Stadium. Staff treated a 44-year-old man who had suffered a cardiac arrest. Extensive efforts were made to resuscitate the patient and he was taken to hospital."

Staff on standby at the international match, which England won 1-0, were on the scene within three minutes, the spokesman said. The victim was taken to a north London hospital in an ambulance belonging to a private medical contractor employed by Wembley. He was pronounced dead at 8.50pm. A postmortem examination will be arranged in due course.

Police believe they have identified the victim but await formal confirmation that all his next of kin have been informed. Officers from the Met's homicide and serious crime command are now investigating his death.

Cardiff City released a statement to confirm that the deceased was a supporter of the club. "Late on Tuesday night, details reached us concerning a tragedy where a Wales and Cardiff City supporter died at the match between England and Wales," the statement read. "Out of respect for the family of the supporter, the sensitivity of the situation and until full details and circumstances are ascertained, no statements will be made until deemed fit by proper channels."

The death of fans in violence in or outside grounds is a comparatively rare phenomenon. In 2010, a football fan from Darwen, Lancashire died after appearing to head a bin thrown by a fan during Stoke City's match with Blackburn Rovers at the Britannia Stadium.

An Aston Villa steward died in 2003 during a running battle between more than 100 rival hooligans after a game between Villa and Queens Park Rangers.

1985 was said to be when football reached its lowest point in England. At a Second Division game, Leeds and Birmingham fans clashed before, during and after the match, ripping up St Andrews and killing a 14-year-old-year old fan when a wall collapsed on top of him.

On 24 August 1974, 17-year-old Blackpool fan, Kevin Olsson, was stabbed to death at the back of the Spion Kop, Bloomfield Road at Blackpool's home match with Bolton Wanderers. In 2009, Blackpool supporters raised money for a memorial plaque for Olsson. In August of that year, on the 35th anniversary of his death, the plaque was unveiled beside the club shop.

• This footnote was appended on 7 September 2011 to clarify the statement that the man was taken to hospital with "serious head injuries, as well as having had a heart attack". A London ambulance spokesman was also quoted, in this version of the story, saying that the man "suffered a cardiac arrest". The two are different. According to the British Heart Foundation's website a heart attack usually happens because someone has coronary heart disease, which is when your coronary arteries narrow due to a gradual build up of atheroma (fatty material) within their walls. A cardiac arrest occurs when when the heart stops pumping bloood around the body. The most common cause is a life threatening abnormal heart rhythm called ventricular fibrilation.